Podcasts

Update on Our Enzo Biochem Investment Thesis

This article is excerpted from a letter by MOI Global instructor Jim Roumell, portfolio manager of Roumell Asset Management, based in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

On March 26th, RAM filed a Form 13D with the SEC encouraging the company to take actions that we believe are necessary and prudent to realize the value we believe is embedded in ENZ’s shares. We have analyzed and discussed our ENZ investment rationale in our two past quarterly letters, thus we will not restate the case here. RAM now owns 4% of the company. Below are a few highlights from our letter to ENZ’s Board of Directors:

If the Board acts responsibly, shareholders should be richly rewarded from the current depressed market price. We believe our investment rationale is sound, predicated on the multiple avenues the company possesses to unlock significant shareholder value. Our investment thesis rests on the simple observation that the company has “multiple shots on goal”, a cash-rich balance sheet, and a market price significantly below any reason- able sum of the company’s discrete assets.

The Board should take a careful and discerning look at the amount of capital and time required to execute its growth strategy, as well as assessing the probability of success as a stand-alone enterprise. We believe it’s likely that the company’s enviable product and IP portfolio would be better suited in a larger company’s hands, where Enzo’s promising AmpiProbe platform can go to market more efficiently and quickly. In reviewing the company’s long history, one cannot avoid noting that the company’s leading-edge IP assets did not translate into shareholder returns. Why will this time be different? The Board should consider the advice of Warren Buffett when he said, “Aesop Was Right…a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

Thank you for your interest. Please note that MOI Global is closed to new members at this time. If you would like to join the waiting list, complete the following form:

First name:

Last name:

Email address:

City / state / country:

Company:

How did you hear about MOI Global?

If referral, please provide member's name:

Which of the following applies most closely to you?

How do you hope to add value to the community?

Leave this field empty if you're human:

The specific securities identified and described do not represent all of the securities purchased, sold, or recommended for advisory clients, and the reader should not assume that investments in the securities identified and discussed were or will be profitable. The top three securities purchased in the quarter are based on the largest absolute dollar purchases made in the quarter.

About The Author: Jim Roumell

Jim Roumell entered the securities industry in 1986. Before founding the firm in 1998, he was a Registered Principal at Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Mr. Roumell is a frequent contributor to Manual of Ideas Global and has been featured in such publications as Barron’s, Kiplinger’s, Value Investor Insight, Financial Planning Magazine, and The Washington Post. He is listed and quoted in “The Art of Value Investing: How the World’s Best Investors Beat the Market.” Mr. Roumell was selected to participate in, and won, two consecutive Wall Street Journal stock picking contests in 2001 and 2002. He is a Board Member and Chairman of the Investment Committee of Wayne State University Foundation. He is also a Board Member and serves on the Investment Committee of Amalgamated Casualty Insurance Company. Mr. Roumell is a graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.